S. Korean retail sales up 4.2% in Nov.

South Korea's retail sales rose 4.2 percent in November from a year earlier on the back of brisk demand for consumer goods like electronics, furniture and garments, a government report showed Monday.

Retail sales reached 32.27 trillion won ($27.3 billion) in November, compared with 30.96 trillion won a year ago, according to a report by Statistics Korea.

The figure, however, dropped slightly from October's 32.38 trillion won, which marked a 10-month high.

Sales of consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones gained 6.6 percent on-year over the cited period, with the number for furniture adding 6.1 percent.

Demand for clothing and shoes and bags rose 4.5 percent and 4.1 percent on-year, respectively.

On the other hand, sales of books and stationery slid 11.1 percent.

Department stores rose 1.7 percent in sales in the one-month period, while large discount outlets and supermarkets fell 1.8 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

Convenience stores saw their November sales plunge 10.1 percent from a year earlier.

Online shopping sales, which have been growing swiftly in recent years, jumped 19.5 percent on-year to reach a record 4.97 trillion won in November on the back of strong sales of food products, cosmetics and clothes.

Online shopping accounted for 15.4 percent of all retail sales in November, up from 14.9 percent the previous month.

Purchases made through mobile devices, meanwhile, soared 52.3 percent on-year to 2.44 trillion won, accounting for 49.2 percent of all online sales in November, according to the report. (Yonhap)